


Kissing A Fool

by SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole



Series: Kissing A Fool universe [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, Singer/Musician Scott, Socialite Tessa, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19462951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole/pseuds/SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole
Summary: A one-shot song fic revolving around Toronto socialite Tessa Virtue and a piano player Scott Moir, set in the lounge of a hotel where Scott is playing.Possible start to another VM alternate universe filled with more one-shot song fics.





	Kissing A Fool

**Author's Note:**

> This is a random one-shot I wrote months ago and left on the shelf. I dusted it off because I know I’m going to be late with my next The Way You Look Tonight update (life/work happened as usual).
> 
> Its also my first ever song fic, even though I do use songs as inspiration in all my other fics. That’s why I happened to choose the name of songs as titles of three of my fics, and a fourth is inspired by the title of another famous song (tweaked a little but actually the original title could have remained).

Tessa enters the tea lounge of the Ritz-Carlton with trepidation. Her group of friends are all laughing, anticipating the lovely high tea they’ll enjoy this afternoon. And all Tessa can think is, _please, please, let this not be one of the days he’s playing!_

She lingers to the back of the group as they head towards their favourite table tucked away in the corner of the lounge. The cosy corner not only has floor-to-ceiling length windows overlooking the park and city below, but also several potted plants surrounding it to provide a modicum of privacy from the rest of the lounge.

Tessa and her friends are aware they can get loud when they are excited and trying to catch up with one another. Furthermore, it is a real bonus that the table is slightly isolated from the others so that no one can overhear their conversation. There has been a few instances of enterprising waitstaff or fellow diners eavesdropping on them in the past. In fact, they are pretty certain poor Madison’s breakup with Zachary last year was leaked to the tabloids during their dinner at Gadbois because the article was accompanied by a slightly blurry shot of all of them comforting a teary Madison during the meal. 

Tessa angles herself as she walks behind her friends. She peers between them trying to catch sight of the grand piano located right in the center of the large room. And when she recognises the familiar head of windswept tousled hair bent over the piano keys, Tessa feels her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. She wants to drag her feet as they come close to walking by Scott Moir, but instead she looks down, pretending to be absorbed by her phone as she scurries past him. Ignoring the strong urge within her to reach out and touch him. Or brush back his unruly, disheveled waves.

Thankfully, Scott’s too engrossed with acknowledging another patron coming up to tip him, to fully notice the group of ladies passing by.

Upon reaching the safety of their corner, Tessa is not fast enough to claim the seat which would allow her to somewhat sit with her back to the piano. However she’s able to quickly find one where a potted plant partially obscures her from the view from the piano bench. Where she’s also able to sneak secret glances at Scott without him noticing her.

It had been wistful thinking of Tessa’s to hope that Scott wouldn’t be playing this Saturday afternoon. The Ritz was a regular gig of his. In fact, it was a very good gig in one of the top hotel establishments in town that Scott could count on to help contribute to his rent money each month. The weekend afternoon slot also ensured that he was free to play other gigs around town in the evenings.

No, Scott would never have given his Ritz gig up today unless he was truly ill. And definitely not on the off chance she might show up to take tea with her fellow socialite friends.

She wished she had confided in her group of friends about her epic but short-lived romance with Scott. How he had unexpectedly entered her life like a hurricane and swept her completely off her feet. How in their three short months together, he had wooed and won her over entirely. And she in turn had broken his heart, not realising she would be breaking her own subsequently.

No one would have even thought about tea at the Ritz-Carlton if they knew about her and Scott, and the pain it might cause.

But that was the whole point right? Tessa had hidden the existence of Scott from almost everyone. And now she was paying the price of not being able to wallow to anyone, and being forced to hear him croon all those love songs all afternoon while pretending to be interested in the chatter between her friends.

As they order their pots of tea, Scott starts to sing As Time Goes By, and Tessa immediately flashes back to them cuddled up together in bed in her apartment, watching Casablanca together. She thinks of the famous scene in which Ingrid Bergman asks Sam, the piano player to “Play it, Sam” and how Scott started to hum and then sing that famous tune to her, his face nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

When he now croons about how _it’s still the same old story,_ and how _moonlight and love songs, never out of date, hearts full of passion, jealousy and hate,_ Tessa feels like someone has grabbed into her chest and squeezed her heart dry at the thought of Scott hating her. 

Scott once told her he doesn’t like to deliberately sing to any girl he’s dating, because it makes him feel like a schmuck and an idiot… trying to serenade or seduce someone in that manner.

But Scott’s always singing anyway. He can’t help himself whether he’s barefeet in her apartment brewing coffee in the morning, or driving around in that ratty old car of his. And he’ll sing anything that comes to mind, those great classic love songs that makes up the bulk of his job, rock and country songs that filter in through his radio station. Even recent pop songs like Sam Smith and Justin Bieber. And as he sings his heart and entire being out, Tessa’s heart will leap in return, especially when he catches her eye and grins that way he does. Sometimes he’ll even grab her in his arms and they’ll dance and sway around in her kitchen. Like all the romantic dreams she had as a young girl, which had dissipated as she grew older. 

Tessa’s never dated a die-hard romantic like Scott before. She always thought she was practical picking the relationships she had in the past, and dating the right kind of guys her family expected her to date.

And then she met Scott who turned her orderly, tidy world upside down with moonlight walks on the beach, and love songs that seem to burst out of him at the most opportune or inopportune moments. 

=====  


It’s just as their tea and scones have arrived, when the opening notes of Scott’s next song captures her attention. She knows it’s a George Michael song. One of his ballads. But it’s not until Scott starts singing that she recognises which one it is. 

_You are far_  
_When I could have been your star_  
_You listened to people_  
_Who scared you to death and from my heart_  
_Strange that you were strong enough_  
_To even make a start_  
_But you'll never find peace of mind_ _  
_ ' _Til you listen to your heart_

Tessa is immediately struck by the lyrics and the pain lingering in the edges of Scott’s voice. There’s a strain there for notes that he can easily reach on a typical day, and a rasp that creeps in at the end of the verses, as if his gorgeous voice is cracking just a little.

She sneaks another glance at him at the piano bench. He has his eyes closed and is wholly absorbed in the song. Realising he cannot see her watching him, she drinks him in, studying him intently for the first time in months. He looks tired, leaner and a little worn out. The planes of his face are even sharper and more drawn out. And he definitely needs a haircut.

But he still looks as gorgeous as ever.

And she’s not oblivious to the way the other patrons, especially the female ones in the room, has noticed it. Even Gabrielle Daleman seated next to her, keeps stealing appreciative glances at him as she munches on the biscuits on her plate, and licks the crumbs off her fingers.

It isn’t the green-eyed monster rearing its head in Tessa’s veins though. It’s something more primal, and it takes only a few seconds for Tessa to recognise it as grief and loss. 

  
_People_  
_You can never change the way they feel_  
_Better let them do just what they will_  
_For they will_ _  
If you let them steal your heart from you_

  
_People_  
_Will always make a lover feel a fool_  
_But you knew I loved you_  
_We could have shown them all  
We should have seen love through_

The lyrics of the first few verses shred Tessa apart. She thinks about how she had always known how her family would be confused with the concept of her dating a struggling piano player. The Virtues are one of the richest families in Toronto and it seemed inevitable that she would end up together with someone from their own social set.

And so she had taken the easy route of hiding Scott from her friends and family. Because she was only intrigued by Scott at first. No doubt there was an obvious and instant spark between them that first moment they met, but she didn’t think it would become anything serious!

Scott had only been hired as a last minute replacement to play at her charity event, and when he had been bold enough to ask her out after the event, Tessa thought that it would be a fun and delightful prospect to go on a few dates with this charming and attractive young man.

She had no idea how swiftly she would fall for this gorgeous but oh so unsuitable man. And keeping it quiet meant Tessa didn’t have to try to explain to anyone how she felt about him or elaborate on what he quickly was starting to mean to her.

Scott in contrast, had no idea she was struggling with all these thoughts. He obviously knew he was different from her past boyfriends, and had been extremely self-deprecating about how she was completely out of his league and how lucky he was she even took a second look at him. But he also knew she was very private about her personal life, and didn’t complain about how most of their dates ended up in the confines of her apartment. He was just so very open about his feelings for her, wearing his heart on his sleeve. And never pretending to hide how insatiable he was about her (just as much as she was about him). 

And then that horrible night at the art gallery happened.

She knew Scott was booked for an evening gig, and she had misrepresented her own plans for the night. Mentioning a tedious family dinner engagement, instead of the all-important charity ball founded by her late maternal grandmother. When she had shown up fashionably late with Jeffrey Buttle, the friend of the family who she had called on as a suitable date/escort...

  
_Fooled me with the tears in your eyes_  
_Covered me with kisses and lies_  
_So goodbye..._ _  
But please don't take my heart..._

She saw the realisation dawn in Scott’s hazel eyes the moment she walked in with her “date”.

But professional that he was, he got through his set without a problem. Only Tessa could detect the slight tremble in his body and the faint sheen of water gathering at the corners of his eyes.

Afterwards, she had tried to pull him aside to explain things. That she was sometimes a beard for Jeff, and he was just a good friend and convenient escort for these types of events...

It was no use.

Every ungainly word she said seemed to make things so much worse and highlight instead how much she had been actively hiding him from everyone in her real life.

And then Jordan came by, and her careless remarks just dug the knife in deeper.

It turns out the whole family knew about Scott. Her sneaking around was apparently laughable and Kevin had once seen her out and about on one of her dates with Scott. And it was all well and good for Tessa to enjoy her flings, but this charity event tonight was important to the whole family and was not the right occasion for her to be distracted and secreted away in this little corner.

Then her father appeared. To hurry his daughters back into the gallery for their mother’s speech. And without a second look at Scott standing there, told Tessa she needed to stop wasting time with the hired help.

As Tessa was tugged along the corridor, she had opened her mouth to say _something_. And it’s now indelibly ingrained in her mind’s eye - Scott just standing there watching and waiting to see if she would defend his existence to her family.

But she didn’t.

She couldn’t.

And so Scott just left.

  
_You are far_  
_I'm never gonna be your star_  
_I'll pick up the pieces and mend my heart_  
_Maybe I'll be strong enough_  
_I don't know where to start_  
_But I'll never find peace of mind_  
_While I listen to my heart_  
  
_People_  
_You can never change the way they feel_  
_Better let them do just what they will_  
_For they will_  
_If you let them steal your heart_  
  
_And people_  
_Will always make a lover feel a fool_  
_But you knew I loved you_  
_We could have shown them all_  
_Ba da da ah ah ah_  
  


All her calls to him went unanswered as she raced back to her apartment, once she could get away from her family and all the guests.

By this point, Scott had already been staying over at her place most nights, with plenty of clothes in a drawer she had cleared out for him, and enough of his stuff peppered around the place. She had started to adore seeing his toothbrush and razor in the cup next to hers, those worn out blue Converses on the shoe rack beside her heels, and even his messy hockey gear invading her hall closet. 

All these, all his things were gone by the time she got back. Not a single trace that he had even spent any time there before, except for the apartment key that he left behind on her kitchen counter.

The only reminder came the next afternoon. When a bouquet of peonies arrived, wishing her a happy three month anniversary. And her phone calendar alarm had chirped. Reminding her of the big dinner date he was supposedly planning for her that evening.

_But remember this_  
_Every other kiss_  
_That you ever give_  
_Long as we both live_  
_When you need the hand of another man_  
_One you really can surrender with_  
_I will wait for you like I always do_  
_There's something there_  
_That can't compare with any other_  
  


She wonders if he’ll ever forgive her for being such a coward. And for not realising what they had until she gave it all up just because she was scared about what her family would think…

Lifting up her teacup to her lips, Tessa sneaks yet another peek at Scott.

And is stunned to discover his hazel gaze wide and open... and those sad puppy dog eyes fixated at her.

He’s no longer lost in his performance, but fully present in the moment. Into the song. Into the music. And into the lyrics.

Scott is clearly singing every word directly to her.  


_You are far_  
_When I could have been your star_  
_You listened to people_  
_Who scared you to death and from my heart_  
_Strange that I was wrong enough_  
_To think you'd love me too_ _  
Guess you were kissing a fool_

 _You must have been kissing a fool_  


The ending lyrics fly like arrows straight to her heart. The idea that Scott thought he was a fool for believing she ever loved him, makes her aching heart want to weep.

She wants to cry out and dispel his mistaken notion of how she really felt about him.

But again something holds her back. Maybe it’s the propriety instilled in her by her family to never make a scene, or the fear of him rebuffing her after she so acutely rejected him.

And so she watches him collect his tips from the jar on the piano, and slowly walk away.

  
  


*****

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry! I don’t know where this little angsty one-shot came from. You know I really love my fluff!
> 
> I had been listening to this song, and I flashed back to how I always thought this was a great song for a fanfic. I have imagined many characters sitting down at a piano and crooning this song. I didn’t write fanfic then though so it was a moot point.
> 
> And then I heard this song again, and I saw Scott at the piano, and here we are.
> 
> For info, the two songs in this fic is Kissing A Fool by George Michael, and As Time Goes By popularised by Dooley Wilson who played Sam in the movie Casablanca.


End file.
